CHATTOGRAM, June 25: Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) has undertaken a project to remove all illegal structures from the canals of Chattogram to reclaim the land lying under illegal occupation.
CDA in association with Bangladesh Army, Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) and law enforcing agencies will clear the canals of illegal structures under a mega project involving around Tk 60 billion (Tk 6,000 crore) to give a permanent solution to the persistent water-logging problem in Chattogram, said sources concerned.
Mentionable, The Financial Express run a report on May 15 last on keeping lands of 39 canals in Chattogram under illegal occupation.
Later, the authorities took a plan to recover the lands of canals lying occupied from July next.
CDA, engineering corp of Bangladesh Army, CCC and other authorities concerned held a meeting in this regard at CDA building on June 18 last.
Chairman of CDA Jahirul Alam Dovash said, "We will free all canals of Chattogram from illegal occupation. We will start an eviction drive in association with Bangladesh Army and administration from July next as engineering corp of Army is implementing the mega project of CDA."
Chief Engineer of CDA Hasan Shams said, "CDA and other authorities
have already taken a project to recover the occupied lands of all canals in Chattogram. We will start the crash programme to remove all illegal structures from all canals and banks of canals in the port city from next month. We need cooperation of the administration and law enforcers."
Among others, Chairman of CDA Jahirul Alam Dovash, secretary of CDA Taher Ferdous and representative of CCC, Chattogram WASA and other concerned authorities were present at the meeting.
Two contractors- Spectra Limited and Karim Group- are working with the project. Besides, CEGIS has been appointed as advisor.
The project has been taken after a feasibility study conducted by CDA following the guideline of CDA Master Plan 1995 and an upgraded master plan formulated by Chattogram WASA in 2016.
As part of the project, CDA will dig 36 cannels in Chattogram and construct slues gates at the mouths of five canals including Mohesh canal in the port city.
The proposed project will be implemented by June 2020. According to the Development Project Proposal (DPP), water-logging has become one of the major problems of the port city as its residents face deluge during monsoon every year, making their lives miserable.
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